$20 million ad campaign promotes use of paper

The U.S. paper industry kicked off a $20 million advertising campaign this week to highlight the role of paper in Americans’ lives. The campaign, “How Life Unfolds,” includes a television spot of a young woman giving her grandfather tickets to a baseball game. The commercial tracks the paper products used during the outing – from the tickets and scorecard to a donut box and fan poster. Industry officials say they’re trying to stem declines in U.S. demand for paper and paperboard, the thicker material used for cereal boxes and other packaging. Since 2000, annual consumption of paper has dropped by 108 pounds per person, and annual consumption of packaging material has dropped by 56 pounds per person. Clearwater Paper Corp. of Spokane is one of the companies funding the promotional campaign. The paper and packaging industry employs about 375,000 people nationwide.